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Maryland has alleged that the ACC, via Wake Forest and Pittsburgh, tried to poach at least two members of the Big Ten.

The University of Maryland has thrown the latest punch in an ongoing feud with the ACC, the longtime conference home it will be leaving for the Big Ten next year. The school filed a counterclaim in Raleigh, N.C. late Monday, seeking $157 million plus punitive damages from the ACC. What’s more, the school alleges that, after it announced its conference move, the ACC tried to poach at least two members from the Big Ten.

In September of 2012, ACC members voted to pass an amendment raising the exit fee to three times the conference’s annual budget, or roughly $52 million. It was a massive increase, up around 250% from a year earlier, but only two schools opposed the amendment: Florida State and Maryland. Two months later, the latter of the two schools announced it would be leaving the ACC for the Big Ten.

Following the announcement, the ACC sued the school for $52.3 million. The ACC argued that the exit fee owed by Maryland would help protect the conference and its remaining members against the loss of a conference school.

In the counterclaim, Maryland argues that the school should not have to pay the full $52 million fee. In its filing, Maryland argues that the 2012 exit fee amendment “lacks any legitimate economic justification.” The school also claims that the amendment violates other parts of the ACC’s constitution and shouldn’t have been in effect until the fiscal year following the amendment’s adoption.

Maryland also alleges that the ACC has since withheld more than $16 million that is legally due to the school. The school is arguing that the denial of conference money has greatly restricted Maryland’s ability to compete on the field and restricted its ability to recruit prospective athletes. It could be a valid point – the school’s cash-strapped athletic department cut seven programs in 2012 in order to get under budget. The $16 million in withheld monies is included in the $157 million total damages.

The most surprising claim made in the filing is that the ACC, through athletic department representatives at Wake Forest and Pittsburgh, tried to convince at least two Big Ten schools to leave their conference for the ACC. The lawsuit does not name which Big Ten schools were recruited (Penn State is a likely guess given its geographical proximity to the ACC). Maryland argues that the Big Ten recruiting efforts were designed to help the ACC get a more valuable TV deal.

All in all, Maryland’s lawsuit paints the picture of a vindictive conference doing everything in its power, and some things beyond its power, to punish Maryland for leaving for the Big Ten. The ACC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Some other things were cited in the countersuit, such as Maryland not having input into ACC actions such as 2013-14 scheduling even though it was still a full member.

For example, with the expanded league and limited conference basketball scheduling (18 games for men, 16 games for women), Maryland only played one game apiece in both men’s and women’s hoops vs. Research Triangle rivals North Carolina, N.C. State and Duke. None of those six games — all traditionally big draws — are slated for College Park. And Virginia, the closest thing Maryland has to a true traditional ACC rival and always one of the better draws on the women’s schedule, only plays the Terrapins once this year, and it is in Charlottesville. No wonder Maryland fans think the ACC is vindictive.